Day care faces uncertain future in dispute with Union County

Sunday

Apr 23, 2017 at 8:29 PMApr 23, 2017 at 8:46 PM

Dean Narciso The Columbus Dispatch @DeanNarciso

MARYSVILLE — A dispute between two preschool programs, both operating under one roof and serving families with critical needs, has led to a standoff that may threaten one of the programs if it isn't resolved by the courts.

The World of Wonders (WOW) day care and preschool has operated in half of a building in Marysville for 22 years, paying no rent, but making repairs and upgrades tailored to its needs. It serves about 115 children, ages 6 weeks to 12 years.

In the other half of the Harold Lewis Center is a preschool run by the Union County Board of Developmental Disabilities that serves about 190, mostly developmentally disabled, children.

A brick wall divides the two sides, with a couple of glass doors for staff and children to pass through. But it's words, not walls, that are the real barrier.

Neither entity owns the property at 1280 Charles Lane. The title belongs to Union County. But rights to the building is another question.

The county's growing number of children with disabilities prompted the disabilities board a year ago to give WOW officials a notice to vacate, as permitted by a 1990s agreement that established the center.

Since then, there have been months of private discussions aimed at finding WOW an affordable new home. But a failed attempt at mediation led only to frustration.

WOW officials conceded that while they they have no ownership rights to the property, the county should compensate them fairly for years of equity they have added to the building, including a new roof, playground and remodeled classrooms. WOW said it also raised, along with state grant money, the original funding for the building and established a partnership with the disabilities board to help disabled children integrate with those in WOW.

The collaboration never took hold the way organizers had intended. The disabilities board agreed to pay WOW about $466,000 if it vacated by the end of 2017, but only if WOW gave up two classrooms. WOW said it needed that space, and more time and money to get a bank loan for a building of its own.

"We would love to have been able to work out some form of agreement," WOW director Lauren Fontaine said. "We did not shut the door on mediation, they did."

It would be sad for either group to cut services, Union County Commissioner Gary Lee said.

"It's just so disappointing that we haven't found some kind of middle ground," Lee said.

As steward of county funds, he is required to side with the county program.

"If it comes down to push and shove, our first responsibility is to (the disabilities board)," he said. "I have seen the concern that parents (of children with disabilities) can express if they feel that their kids aren't being taken care of. It's a lot of emotion."

But WOW parents are equally passionate, considering the WOW center provides more low-income, state-subsidized funding for preschoolers (about a third of its enrollment) than any other daycare in the area. Fontaine said that pushing them out now will force WOW to close.

The Union County prosecutor's office has been asked for an opinion on the agreement. WOW officials say their attorney has no choice but to respond with an injunction or lawsuit seeking a stay.

"These are both good programs," Kara Brown, the disabilities board superintendent said of what she called "a disagreement about who has ownership rights."

"This isn't about WOW being good or bad. It's about fulfilling the mission our taxpayers expect of us. It is in many ways a lose-lose situation."